During this long, cold winter John and I have been enjoying all the activity around our bird feeder. There have been times that the surrounding bare trees look like they have leaves what with all the perching birds waiting their turn for the bird feeder.

In 1918, Congress passed the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to provide the foundation of federal protection for (non-game) migratory birds. That makes this 100-year anniversary a good to time to celebrate the beauty and magic of our feathered friends.

National Geographic, the National Audubon Society, Birdlife International, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have created an official Year of the Bird website listing ongoing information about bird celebrations across all communication channels.

Start your personal celebration by taking a five-minute break to watch the extraordinary video of Cornell University’s Birds-of-Paradise project filmed in the New Guinea rainforest. I’ve watched it dozens of time over the past five years and never cease to be amazed.
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Thoughts from the Office

Celebrating success

It’s loud. It’s corny. It gets everyone’s attention. It makes people curious. It shares success. It energizes the team. It improves internal communication. It only costs $25.00. What is it?

A wall-mounted nautical ship bell! For years I’ve recommended hanging a bell in a central office location. Individuals ring it to announce success when writing new business. A client of mine who has just hung a bell in her office has improved this idea in three ways. First, the reason to ring the bell has been expanded to include saving an account, passing a test, and receiving client praise. Second, the person ringing the bell puts a post-it on the wall describing the success. Third, each month at the office meeting the success stories are read and people are acknowledged.